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That's the number of games Texas A&M won in 2015 and a mark the Aggies achieved once again after their most recent game.

But one of the questions surrounding this team was whether it could get over that mark in 2016. Earlier in the season, A&M seemed destined to elevate its record above the two-year plateau.

Now, an improvement is anything but a guarantee.

The Aggies (8-3, 4-3 SEC) will have two more chances to make that happen. A&M faces LSU on Thursday at Kyle Field in the regular-season finale for both schools.

"We still have an opportunity to win double-digit games," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "That's what most important. In order to do that, you can't look past Thursday."

That shouldn't be too difficult, considering what's at stake.

LSU (6-4, 4-3 SEC), ranked No. 25 in this week's Associated Press poll, three spots behind Texas A&M, has beaten the Aggies in five straight games. The Tigers, led by interim coach Ed Orgeron, will be without Kendell Beckwith, one of the top linebackers in the country.

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Winning against LSU and then a potential marquee bowl game could quell A&M fans.

They watched the two teams they lost to earlier this month -- Mississippi and Mississippi State -- get easily trounced in their respective weekend matchups. Those losses dropped A&M out of the College Football Playoff picture.

Sumlin, who makes $5 million annually until the end of the 2019 season, said he wants the team to be in the running for an SEC West title one day. That is something No. 1 Alabama doesn't seem to be relinquishing any time soon.

During Monday's news conference, Sumlin noted the steps the program has made this season, a continuation of progress since A&M entered the SEC for the 2012 season and finished 11-2.

"But for us to be where we want to be, we do need to take that next step and play for championships and be involved in that conversation consistently," Sumlin said.

Prior to this season, A&M switched offensive coordinators and landed a key transfer quarterback after losing two top quarterback recruits.

The Aggies reached No. 4 in the first CFP ranking of the season. The last time the Aggies were that high in the top college football poll was in 1995, when A&M was ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll.

Part of the frustration with this season stems from what could have been.

But a couple wins to close the season could rectify that. After all, A&M fans are still talking Sugar Bowl after a 13-point win over a sub-.500 UT-San Antonio team.

"Coach Sumlin's done a great job of putting this squad together," A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "Certainly there's a good foundation here. Certainly a ninth win would be important to that as well."

Nine.

That number of wins is a definitive sign of progress. A&M could make that happen with a win over LSU.

Eight is still a good number, especially in the SEC. But considering how this season has went, eight becomes a word that can be interpreted many different ways.

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